Hiking Around Los Angeles

Happy Monday! As I said last week, I’m going to talk about my hiking adventures around Los Angeles. Since the weather here is basically always perfect, hiking is a popular activity around here. You’ve probably heard of the Hollywood Sign hike, but if not, check out this blog to find out more! I’m going to talk about some less common hikes around Los Angeles, but they are just as cool (and usually less touristy).

The views from the Runyon Canyon hike are amazing!

One of my most favorite spots is the Runyon Canyon hike, which is in the Santa Monica Mountains. I usually hike this a couple times a semester with my best friends, and it’s become sort of a tradition among us. The end of the hike is actually situated in a neighborhood area, and we usually park there and do the hike backwards! It actually makes more sense, since all the uphill areas are at the beginning of the hike. You actually can see the Hollywood sign from this hike, though it isn’t the more popular hike where you can get up and close with the famous landmark. My girlfriend was pretty excited that she could see the sign from the hike, even though you can’t even really see it in the picture!

My girlfriend was pretty excited about seeing the Hollywood sign on the Runyon Canyon hike!

As I said last week, over winter break, my family and I did some pretty cool hikes in other parts of the Santa Monica mountain area. We hiked to the Parker Mesa Overlook, starting from Trippet Ranch (pretty funny names, huh?). This hike was a little longer than I was used to, but it was so worth it! My Dad and brother kept thinking that they could hike slightly off the trail, but they were very wrong. Definitely stick to the trail on this hike… or you’ll get semi-stranded at the top of some peak like they did! This hike was a pretty good workout, and most of the people on the hike were wearing their full on workout gear. When compared to the Runyon Canyon hike, this one might need a little more dedication.

Totally worth it for this view though! To the left is Downtown LA, and to the right is the beautiful ocean.

Coming from San Diego, I was glad that LA had just as many hiking opportunities. After all, I hail from the city of the famous Potato Chip Rock hike, which is the subject of many Facebook profile pictures. If you ever get the chance to go to San Diego, definitely allocate some time to go there!